News

Singapore draw positives from Handball Open 2014 performance

30 December, 2014
Shawn Lim

Our Team Singapore men’s handball team (above, in red) wrapped up their campaign at the recently concluded Singapore Handball Open Tournament (SHOT) 2014 with one win, two losses and a draw. (Photo by VoxSports)

Into its second year, SHOT was held from 26 December to 28 December at Hougang Sports Hall and Jurong West Sports Hall. The three-day competition saw the Republic going up against formidable opponents like Asian powerhouse Japan, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong.

Our athletes went into the tournament with every intention of gaining international experience, a step up from the usual competition that they faced.

“The objective of this SHOT being started was to expose local players to overseas team instead of us always travelling overseas,” said Handball Federation of Singapore president Adele Lim.

The Singapore Handball Open 2014 provided much needed exposure for our athletes. (Photo by VoxSports)

“Last year we only had Malaysia, but this year we were very successful; we brought in teams from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Uzbekistan.”

After a heavy 58-20 defeat to overall champions Uzbekistan on day one, the team bounced back with a 30-30 draw with Hong Kong, this time with a much-improved defense.

“We did very well in the first half, sad to say in the second half our players missed a few shots, and the defense also conceded a few easy goals, they managed to come back,” said Singapore coach Tommy Toh after the game against Hong Kong.

“But I’m still pretty pleased with the performance because the first game wasn’t that good, so it was an improvement and any improvement is good.”

The team then went on to narrowly beat City University of Hong Kong (25-24) and lose to Japan (25-18) on Day two and three respectively. Despite the results, Lim was pleased with the never-say-die spirit of the team, who refused to roll over against stronger opponents.

The coach was pleased with the strong mentality and attitude of the Team Singapore handball players. (Photo by VoxSports)

“On a good note, although some of the players felt that they were thrashed in some games, they grew a lot from there and learnt from there. I’m just very happy to see them enjoy the games, and hopefully they will grow from this experience,” shared the president.